Games for Teaching Numeral Recognition
- Play games with cards to teach children number recognition. Remove the face cards from two or three decks of cards and scatter them on a flat surface. Instruct children to sort the cards into individual piles in an allotted period of time. If children are able to complete the task in the allotted time period, they win the game.
You can also use cards to play a game of war. Again, remove the face cards, shuffle the cards and deal them to two children. Have the children place their cards in face-down piles and flip over one card at a time. The child who flips over the higher card takes the cards; whoever has the most cards after all cards are flipped over wins the game. - Reinforce number recognition with carnival-like games. Create a fishing game by cutting fish shapes from card stock and printing numbers on each shape. Punch a hole in the top of each fish and thread paper clips through the holes. Tie a piece of yarn with a magnet on it to a ruler for a fishing pole. Scatter the fish on the ground so the numbers are facing up, provide children with the fishing poles, state a number and have children "catch" the fish with the number you've stated.
For a bucket toss game, write numbers on the outside of a collection of plastic beach pails. Place the pails in a horizontal line and provide children with beanbags to toss into the buckets. Kids must name the number printed on the front of the bucket that their beanbags land in. - Put kids' knowledge of numbers to the test with a number race. On a dry-erase or chalkboard, print a number. The first child to correctly identify the name of the number you've written earns a point and the child who earns the most points at the end of the game wins. Alternatively, you can state numbers and have children write the numbers you've stated. Award points to the child who completes the task first and the winner is the child who collects the most points.
Another option is to print numbers on index cards and scatter them face-up on a flat surface. State a number and the first child to find the number you have stated keeps the card. The person who collects the most cards wins. - Develop gross motor skills while promoting number recognition with non-competitive physical games. Draw numbers on the ground with sidewalk chalk and instruct children to hop from one number to the next, stating the numbers they land on aloud.
For another physical activity, state a number aloud, or print a number on a dry-erase or chalkboard. Children must hop in place the amount of times indicated by the numbers you state or write; for example, if you state the number 7, children must hop in place seven times.